Jamie Crait

Botany Department

Associate Instructional Professor | Director, Wyoming Research Scholars Program

Contact Information

(307) 766-6310craitj@uwyo.edu

Science Initiative Building 4017D

Photo of Jamie Crait

Specialization—Wildlife ecology.

 

Education

  • B.S., Wildlife Science, Oregon State University
  • M.S., Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming
  • Ph.D., Ecology, University of Wyoming

 

Courses

General Biology, General Ecology, Animal Biology, Life Science, First Year Seminar: Intro to Ecological Research, Scientific Communication, Wyoming Research Scholars Program Seminar, Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs).

Research Emphasis

I study predator-prey interactions and their impact on ecosystem processes. My current research is aimed at synthesizing two broad topics in contemporary ecology: the role that animals play in linking ecosystems through nutrient transport, and the indirect, often far-reaching effects of biological invasions. Specifically, my research has focused on North American river otters in Yellowstone National Park, as well as mink and beaver pond ecology. Research questions with these animals have been broad, and spanned organismal ecology and physiology, as well as population and ecosystem dynamics.

 

Current Research Projects

  • Using stable nitrogen isotopes in tree rings to track long-term changes in animal-mediated nutrient transfer.
  • Genetic comparisons of river otters from native and reintroduced populations of Wyoming and Colorado to investigate degree of interbreeding.
  • Mink habitat use and aquatic-terrestrial resource flow in beaver ponds of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

 

Selected Publications

Crait, J. R., A. D. McIntosh, E. C. Greiner and M. Ben-David. 2015.  The influence of changing prey availability on the prevalence of Diphyllobothrium in river otters from Yellowstone National Park.  Journal of Parasitology 101: 240-243.

Crait, J. R., E. V. Regehr and M. Ben-David. 2015.  Indirect effects of bioinvasions in Yellowstone Lake: the response of river otters to declines in native cutthroat trout.  Biological Conservation 191: 596-605.

Crait, J. R., H. D. Prange, N. A. Marshall, H. J. Harlow, C. J. Cotton and M. Ben-David. 2012.  High-altitude diving in river otters: coping with combined hypoxic stresses.  Journal of Experimental Biology 215: 256-263.

Crait, J. R. and M. Ben-David. 2007.  Effects of river otter activity on terrestrial plants in trophically altered Yellowstone Lake.  Ecology 88: 1040-1052.

Crait, J. R., G. M. Blundell, K. E. Ott, J. K. Herreman and M. Ben-David. 2006.  Late seasonal breeding of river otters in Yellowstone National Park. American Midland Naturalist 156: 189-192.

Crait, J. R. and M. Ben-David. 2006.  River otters in Yellowstone Lake depend on a declining cutthroat trout population.  Journal of Mammalogy 87: 485-494.

Sheffield, L. M., J. R. Crait, W. D. Edge and G. Wang. 2001.  Response of American kestrels and gray-tailed voles to vegetation height and supplemental perches.  Canadian Journal of Zoology 79: 380-385.